


To the edge of forever

by Mallior



Category: the GazettE
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Friends to Lovers, M/M, NaNoWriMo 2016, Slow Burn, Swearing, WIP, author is using bad cliches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2017-04-10
Packaged: 2018-08-30 18:29:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8544430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mallior/pseuds/Mallior
Summary: "In the last 3 years, he watched as his best friend drank himself into alcoholism and he didn't have the power to stop him."During the 2007-2008 STACKED RUBBISH tour Uruha's alcoholism started to affect his performance on stage. The band is struggling with his addiction and the stress it causes.





	1. 001

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is one of my NaNoWriMo 2016 stories. Still a WIP, I'll update as I write and translate the chapters.
> 
> Need to say: I left this fandom 6 years ago, stopped listening to their music. I threw away almost everything, interviews, music, photoshoots...  
> The last tour finale I saw was the Repeated Countless Error, and after years, when I rewatched it my muse kicked me in the face! I built this fic on that tour, using old, bad cliches of the band. 
> 
> Read this fic knowing the author is badly out of loop! Plus, my native language is NOT English, sorry for the mistakes!

 

* * *

 

 

It wasn't a smile, so much as a snarl on those lips. He scowled as he dragged the unconscious body down the hotel corridor, cursing the man on his shoulder. This shit show was an ongoing one, and he was angry beyond words.

 

In the last 3 years, he watched as his best friend drank himself into alcoholism and he didn't have the power to stop him. The whole band tried to intervene but their words fell on deaf ears or met with mocking laugh. 'It's for courage, you know...' was a default answer in clearer moments. He was sick of this, sick of his friend and sick of the stench of alcohol that cling to the guitarist's skin.

 

Reita stopped in front of room 637. With a tired sigh, hefted their lead guitarist closer to himself, and fished the key card of his room out of his jacket's pocket. He propped Uruha next to the door and after a few fumbled moments he opened the hotel room. He dragged themselves inside and kicked the door shut. Not bothering with the lights, the street lamps gave a soft orange gloom to the room, he navigated them to the bed and dumped the body on it. The guitarist didn't even woke up... With a half murmured curse Reita turned on his heels and left the room.

 

He woke to the insistent beeping of the alarm, way too early. With a groan, he fished for his mobile under the pillow and shut if off. Reita still felt tired, yet he slept almost 8 hours without interruption. Nobody banged on his door, did he found their guitarist, so he assumed someone checked on the idiot.

 

Ignoring the dull throbbing in his back, he got up and walked into the bathroom. A hot shower could cure a lot of things, especially aching muscles. It wasn't fun, dragging a way too drunk, unconscious Uruha around after a concert. The hot water helped with the pain and for a few moments he was tempted to go back to sleep, but he woke up just in time to pack his stuff before they were on the road again. His tired sigh reverberated in the hotel room as he started dressing and packing. Just 3 weeks and the last long part of the tour will be over, after that, one week rest and Osaka, then another week and a two-day finale. He was really looking forward of those weeks. No travelling, no tour bus and new hotel room every other night, plus the most important: no recovering alcoholics in the middle of the night.

 

The thought left a bitter little grimace on his face as left the room and gave the key card back at the reception. The last thing he wanted to spend hours in the tour bus, closed in with the others. Sue him, he was tired of the noise and people in general. But just for a few weeks…

 

The mood in the bus was unusually subdued and that was perfect for Reita. He found his favourite seat, dug out the headphones from his backpack with the book he was reading this week and was determined to ignore the world until they arrived to Takamatsu.

 

He hoped everyone else will ignore him for 3 hours but wasn't that lucky. Just an hour later Kai sat down next to him and with a sigh, the bassist took off the headphones.

 

"Yes?" he asked, turning to face the drummer.

 

"Just wanted to say thank you for-"

 

"Please don't finish that sentence." Reita interrupted him. "You know I will help if you ask me, but that's it, talking about it will just fuck up my blood pressure. I told you that."

 

"Okay sorry, you're right, I just felt like a jerk to leave it like this, even without a thank you." Kai sighed and leaned back into the seat. He looked as tired a the bassis felt.

 

"It's not _you_ who should say a thank you. But I know I could wait for Hell to froze before _he_ said thanks." the bassist grumbled. The thought hurt a little. "Anyway, next week will be yours in drunk-sitting duty."

 

"Don't remind me." the drummer groaned. "What if I locked him into his hotel room?"

 

"You know it's not possible and if he's really motivated, he'll climb out through the window. We don't need that kind of media attention."

 

"You're right." Kai said with a heavy sigh. "But it would made our life much easier."

 

"Maybe. By the way, where is he? I didn't see him when I boarded the bus. Did we left him in Hiroshima?"

 

"No, I gave him water, painkiller and food then shuffled him into his bunk. Preferably sleeping off the hangover." Kai answered with a disapproving frown. Reita just huffed in answer. "Did you eat?" the drummer asked.

 

"Didn't have the time or the appetite. I'll eat when we arrive. Don't worry about me." the bassist smiled at Kai. For a few heartbeat Kai didn't say a word, then with a nod, he got up and left him alone.

  
Reita put the headphones back up and opened his book, trying concentrate on the words in front of him, he softly hummed the song in his ears.

 

/TBC/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter listening Shinedown's 45, but that way too dark, so I recommend:  
> \- girugamesh: Fukai no Yami (this music is really fitting for the mood of the fic)
> 
> You can shout at me [HERE](https://fromthedistortedcity.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.


	2. 002

They were near Takamatsu, when Reita was interrupted again, this time by Aoi.

 

“You should start packing, 15 minutes and we’ll be at the hotel.” the guitarist said after the blond man took off the headphones. His answer was just a nod, then he packed his book and headphones back into his backpack. Finishing that, he walked into the back of the bus to swap the clothes in the suitcase for clean ones.

 

He just closed the bag, when the curtain of the next bunk slid open, revealing a groggy Uruha.

 

“Morning.” the guitarist mumbled then staggered to the front of the bus.

 

Reita just stared after him, then decided not to say a word. That wouldn’t have ended nicely and it was better for his nerves. He picked up the black suitcase and returned to his seat.  

____

 

The afternoon was for rehearsal, Ruki and Kai discussing the technical details with the staff while he fiddled with the soundcheck. When he finished and the guitarists stepped onto the stage, Reita decided to leave. A few minutes aimless walking around he found a comfortable chair in the left corner of the auditorium.

 

Aoi and Uruha started their own soundcheck, playing random song snippets. It was strange to see the lead guitarist on stage. No trembling hands, no uncertain movements. The moment he hanged the guitar on his shoulder, he became a whole another person, leaving nothing just talent and knowledge.

 

It gave the illusion of no problems outside of the stage. Also this was the reason he was still the member of the band, that he could gave a performance worthy of fan expectations. The management also recommended to leave things alone, if there were no scandals and the shows were going on without a hitch.

 

If Reita was honest with himself, he wasn’t happy with the situation. It hurt like Hell to see his best friend destroying himself, always being on edge and hoping he wouldn’t cause a scene. He really, really didn’t want to think about finding a replacement guitarist.

 

On the other side, he was fed up with the man and tired of all of this. It created a shit atmosphere to work in, always keeping an eye on Uruha, hoping he didn’t make a mistake. The added stress didn’t make their life easier, and if he listened to his common sense, they should have threw him out of the band… But sadly, when it came to Uruha his common sense doesn’t always worked and he wasn’t the only member of the band.

___

 

After rehearsal they returned to the dressing room, getting ready for the show. When Reita got out of the claws of the hairdresser and the makeup artist, he pulled his stage clothes on and sat down on a chair with his bass. As a warm-up he started playing the bass part of Duality then switched to a Ride with the Rockers-variation. Kai pulled up another chair and sat down next to him with the small, electric drum and joined the song.

 

A few minutes later a guitar jumped into the fun, though without an amplifier and Aoi started walking up and down in front of their chairs. Sadly the jam session ended way too early as a staff member stepped into the room, just five minutes before starting. Ruki definitely wasn’t happy with the man, judging from the dark look he shot at him…

Reita got up and started the ritual stretching before they were on their way to the stage, trying to forget that the second guitar never joined in.

___

 

The bassist woke with a curse as he dug out his mobile. The light from the display blinded him for a moment, but after his vision returned he found a message from Uruha… At 01:34.

 

_‘The Craic, Takamatsu-shi, Nishinomaruchō, 7−8’_

 

“That son of a…” with another curse he switched on the small lamp on the top of the nightstand and kicked the blanket off. Five minutes later he was dressed and on his way out of the room, the door closed behind him with a slam. In front of the hotel he came to halt to check the map on his mobile and hailed a cab. The address was a nearby one, fortunately for Uruha.

 

Even with the driver’s cautious driving, they arrived in a few minutes. For a moment he thought about just walking, then reminded himself that he needed to navigate a drunk body too.

 

“Five minutes and I’m back.” he growled at the man on the front seat and got out.

 

The small Irish pub was still open. He never understood how the guitarist found pubs, bars, clubs and other drinking establishments so quickly in a perfectly new town...

 

In the building he found a possible obstacle, a set of narrow stairs that led up to the pub. With an angry huff he took the stairs. In the dim room he found their guitarist at the bar. His head on the shining black wood, preferably just sleeping. Reita walked to him and when the man didn’t moved, he hoped for Uruha’s sake just to be asleep. Otherwise the urge to throw the other out of the window was just way too tempting...  

 

“Hey, wake up!” the bassist grabbed the thin shoulder to shook its owner awake.

 

“Huh, what? Morning?” Uruha’s head snapped up but the movement was too uncoordinated and he almost slid off the barstool. Reita caught him just in time, saving both of them from a supremely embarrassing scene.

 

“It’s almost two in the morning, let’s go back to the hotel.” with that he turned to the bartender to ask for the bill who just shrugged and explained, the taller man set the bill before started drinking. Nothing kept them from leaving. Reita carefully picked up the heavier body, draping Uruha’s left arm over his own shoulders and started their journey down the stairs.

 

They’ve reached the door without accident and a broken neck, where the bassist stuffed him into the back of the cab - despite the grumbling driver who wasn’t that happy about transporting drunk people - and finally, they were on their way. At the hotel Reita gave a nice tip for the surprisingly quick trip - the man probably didn’t want to clean the back seat… - and dragged them up to their floor.  

 

He thanked the maintenance people internally for the working elevator, because otherwise Uruha would have slept in the lobby. In the lift, he propped the guitarist against the metal walls, who just sighed and closed his eyes at its cool touch on his cheek. If Reita didn’t know where they came from, if the smell of alcohol didn’t fill the small space around them, he would have been able to believe they just finished a concert and the other man was just tired…

As the elevator door opened he draped Uruha’s arm over his shoulder again and ignoring the bitter knot in his stomach, he started walking toward the guitarist’s room.

 

Uruha’s keycard was found in the inner pocket of the black jacket he was wearing, so they could get inside finally. Also there were times, when he didn’t find the key and had to ask the front desk for a replacement.

Inside the room, Reita smacked on the lightswitch to navigate the possible mess. In the end he unceremoniously dumped the half-asleep guitarist onto the bed, whose only answer was a groan and some shifting to lay on his side.

 

He took a deep breath to keep himself from saying something, knowing there was a very little chance for the taller man to remember anything… The bassist just simply walked into the bathroom, picked up the empty glass from the sink, filled it with water and left it on the nightstand. For a few moment he thought about freeing the blanket from under the other’s body but  decided not to. He made a good samaritan act with the water already and anyway he also needed sleep.

 

When Reita returned to his own room, the clock on phone showed it was just after two in the morning. He undressed tiredly and sank back into the cool bedsheets. He hoped he would not remember any of his dreams as he fell asleep.

____

 

It was another grouchy morning with almost seven and half an hour bus trip. Reita planned to finish his book during the trip and also planned to find a bookstore when he had some free time. The need for the second book of the Bas-lag trilogy was way too strong to resist.

 

In three blessedly uninterrupted hours he finished the Perdido Street Station and closed the book with a pleased smile. After stuffing it back into his backpack the got up to find something edible in the front of the tour bus. Surprisingly he didn’t get far, because he found Uruha a few seat over with one of his green guitars in his lap, next to a small amp. A pair of headphones were plugged into the amplifier and their owner intently strummed and jotted down the sounds.

 

‘What the…’ Reita couldn’t remember the last time he saw their lead guitarist writing music. For a few seconds he just stood there, listening to the notes and determined it will not be a slow song. Good, it was better to leave that to Ruki.

As he continued this trek he found Kai in the miniature kitchen, disappearing to the waist into the fridge.

 

“Is there something edible in there?” he asked and grinned as the drummer visibly jumped.

 

“For fuck’s sake! Do not scare me, you idiot!” Kai stepped back a little, fingers clenching the front of his white t-shirt over his heart, his other hand grabbing the fridge’s door. “You deserve to starve because of this, although I want to cook something.”

 

“Aww, Yu-kun, don’t be so cold-hearted. By the way, I was walking just like any other times, not my fault you don’t pay attention.

 

Kai looked at him with a hitched eyebrow for a few seconds then turned back to the content of the fridge. “Did you notice?” he asked.

 

“It’s hard to miss, surprised me.” as he suspected, the ‘background music’ distracted their drummer. “I thought I’ll see him when we arrive, and the playing was strange bonus. And it sounds surprisingly good.” he busied himself with making tea, while Kai decided what he wanted to cook.

 

“Yeah, I like it so far, we will see how much Ruki likes it. It would be good to have a lyric with it.” the drummer closed the fridge with a gentle kick, a carton of eggs, a pack of butter and a jar of jam in his hands. Reita took the eggs from him, before there was an accident.

  
They prepared food and tea in a peaceful mood, sometimes stopping to listen, hopefully catching a few notes. Reita found himself tapping a rhythm on the kitchen counter, in those moments Kai just grinned at him and continued the cooking. It shaped up to be a nice day…

 

/TBC/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Perdido Street Station is on my to-read list, but sadly too much interesting books and too little time. :(
> 
> You can shout at me [HERE](https://fromthedistortedcity.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.


	3. 003

The trip to Isahaya was a peaceful one. After breakfast Reita gone back to his seat and pulled out his tablet. The last few days were really busy and he didn’t have time to check his e-mails. The one from his mother made him smile, it was good to hear from them even if only electronically.

 

His sister also wrote, including a picture of his nephew with the cockatiels sitting on his shoulder. The bassist’s smile grew into a grin, it was good to see how much Takumi grew since the last time they met, and of course it was nice to see his birds being happy. She mentioned the two DVDs and the book he ordered, finally. At least he knew what he’ll be doing after the tour.

 

He wrote back to his family, checked over the bookmarked pages and was interrupted by Aoi’s cawing from the front of the bus, they have ten minutes before arriving, start packing. Reita shut down the tablet and gone packing clean clothes into his suitcase.

____

 

An hour later he was waiting for the elevator on his hotel corridor, keeping an eye on the map he pulled up on his phone. It showed a bookstore nearby, and if was really there - there were times when the map fucked him over… - that was just perfect, because he didn’t want to reread his books.

 

Outside of the hotel he just turned to the right direction, when someone slapped him on the shoulder. After his heart didn’t break out of his ribcage, Reita turned with an angry growl only to find a grinning Aoi.

 

“Tsk tsk, Akira-kun it’s just me, don’t be so scared. By the way, it’s not my fault you don’t pay attention.”

 

“Really? I mean, really? You got involved or you just stick your nose into other people’s business for shits and giggles? Do we want another prank war, wasn’t enough the last one two years ago?” the bassist asked with a quirked eyebrow. That memory still haunted them, their manager had to intervene to end it.  Aoi’s stage clothes mysteriously disappeared and he only found a powder pink negligee in its place. Everyone denied taking the clothes, but in the end Aoi got them back because they almost started the concert late. The manager banned every similar ‘idiotic, childish’ activity while they were on tour.

 

“Hey man, I’m just kidding.” the guitarist stepped back a little, hands in the air. “Don’t do anything that we could both regret later. By the way, where are you going?”

 

“In theory, there is a bookstore nearby I want to visit. You?”

 

Two buildings over, there is a grocery store. My tea just run out this morning.” he sighs.

 

“Well, we are going in the same direction, the bookstore is that way. Shall we?”

____

 

When he found the bookstore - the map was accurate for once - he had a list of books, he should acquire. Aoi asked for the Heart-Shaped box, because reviews said it was good and he didn’t read a good horror novel in a long time.

 

The store itself was in a small, white building, luckily still open. He found the book for the guitarist quickly and started browsing to find some to himself. Forty five minutes and a lot of read blurb later, he left the store with ‘The Name of the Wind’ - a high-fantasy - and ‘In The Woods - a mystery novel -. Reita hoped they were good books, otherwise he would chuck them out of the bus...

  


It was almost seven, when he arrived back to the hotel, he only had time to put down his stuff, give Aoi his book and they were on their way to the restaurant next door for a dinner meeting.

 

The whole affair was strangely calm. Kai, Takenaka-san, the head of the staff and the band was sitting around one table, planning and talking about the final concerts and the rest of the tour.

 

Ruki sat at the end of the table throwing ideas at Kai and jotting something into the small, bound notebook in front of him. Reita looked at Aoi questioningly, who just shrugged in answer, having no idea about the notebook. The bassist had a suspicion that it could be a lyric...

 

He just let the conversation wash over him, more interested in his dinner and he really, really wanted to go back to his room and start one of his new books.

After finishing dinner, the meeting concluded. Some of them started walking into the town, while the rest was on their way to the hotel.

 

Kai, Ruki and a few staff member walked in front of him, in a deep conversation about the singer’s stage lighting designs. Reita stopped and turned back to check whom they will have to look for in the morning, if they arrived back safely. Aoi, another bunch of staff members and Uruha was strolling down the street, their laughter echoing through the traffic noise.

He quickly dug out his phone and sent a message to Aoi.

 

 _‘If you need help, just send your address.’_ as he looked up he caught the dark haired guitarist’s gaze who nodded in agreement and disappeared behind the building on the corner.

  
With a resigned sigh, he continued his trip, hoping for a night of uninterrupted sleep...

 

/TBC/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aoi's book: [Joe Hill - Heart-Shaped Box](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/153025.Heart_Shaped_Box)
> 
> Reita's books:  
> ~ [Patrick Rothfuss - The Name of the Wind](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/186074.The_Name_of_the_Wind)  
> ~ [Tana French - In The Woods](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/237209.In_the_Woods)
> 
> You can shout at me [HERE](https://fromthedistortedcity.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.


	4. 004

After a full night’s sleep, Reita woke up surprisingly rested. There was no message or call, so he hoped they got back to the hotel without problem…   
It was already 09:33 when he deemed himself fit for human company. If he was lucky, maybe he could find breakfast in the dining hall, otherwise the other option was the restaurant next door.

 

But life gave him a little break, because the buffet was still available and with a packed tray, he hunted for an empty table to eat in peace. While eating, he found familiar faces  in the room, Ruki sitting alone in the far left corner with his breakfast and that notebook - and that notebook became more and more interesting… - he still wrote in.   
A few table over the bassist were Kai, Aoi and staff members, eating, their lead guitarist nowhere to be seen. He just decided to ask Aoi, when the blond man walked into the room, making beeline to Ruki’s table.

 

The singer looked up from the pages as Uruha sat down and they started talking in hushed voices. Ruki turned the notebook to the guitarist, who after reading it gave that back and pointed at the pages, while talking. The smaller man shook his head a few times as he explained something, ignoring the food getting stolen off his plate.   
Reita was sure they wrote music, based on what Uruha played on the other day. Now he was really curious and it was good to see them working together.

 

After he finished his breakfast, he gone back to his room to pick up his jacket and wallet and took a walk in the city. It was nice to catch a little sunshine and good weather, because knowing their luck - and Ruki’s rain-bringer ability - there should be rain the next day when they performed.

 

Reita spent the morning near the hotel, discovering its vicinity and found a park nearby. He claimed the first sunlit bench and sat down to relax. He pulled a pair of small earphones out of his jacket pocket with his phone and switched the music on, closed his eyes to ignore the world for a while.

  
\----

At 2 p.m. a reminder beeped at him to return in time for lunch, because Kai called a meeting at 4, there were things to clear up about the finals.

He run into Aoi and Takenaka-san in the lobby, who were on their way to the restaurant and joined them. During lunch, the topic of Uruha’s song came up.

 

“Did you hear anything about it?” he asked the guitarist.

 

“Ruki sang something behind his room’s door, I only caught a few notes.” was the answer.

 

“I don’t understand this big secrecy.”

 

“Maybe, it’ll be a surprise?” said Takenaka.

 

“It’ll be an interesting surprise.” Reita murmured into his lunch. “Based on what I heard on the bus.” he added, because of the manager’s questioning gaze.

 

“Yup, I’m really, really curious now.” Aoi grinned at them. “But I’m more interested in the lyric. What do you think, Ruki wrote a new one or the music was fitting to one of his ideas?” he mused.

 

“It’s a brand new lyric and a really powerful music.” Kai’s voice answered from behind Reita. As he turned, their drummer grinned at them.

 

“You traitor!” Aoi gasped and grabbed his shirt with an over-dramatic gesture.”Don’t you dare to say, you already heard it!” Kai’s grin just got wider.

 

“I dare, we looked at the instrumentation. They’ll tune the guitar parts and Reita need to take a look at his section, but otherwise it’s almost perfect. I love it already.” Kai completed his report as he sat down next to the bassist. “We should record it as soon as we are back in Tokyo. It should be on the next single.” 

 

“It must be a fucking good song, if you are already a fan. Can we know the title, at least?” Reita asked while he pushed his empty plate out of the way.

 

“Yes,  _ Distorted Daytime _ .”

  
\----

Friday morning started with the alarm beeping insistently from under Reita’s pillow. The urge to throw the phone out of the window was tempting, but he needed to get up. Today was a concert day with rehearsal. He naively thought being a rockstar meant sleeping in, waking up maybe after 10 a.m.… But he was severely disappointed to be awake at 8 in the morning, because the rehearsal started at 9. 

 

The soundcheck came and gone without a hitch and finally after that, Uruha and Ruki presented the song they wrote. Kai didn’t  exaggerate when he said it was a good one. 

They talked about the details between getting ready, but sadly they had to wait for some studio time to iron out everything.

  
That night Reita stepped onto the stage with a honest smile, it felt good to have the band back again…

 

/TBC/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can shout at me [HERE](https://fromthedistortedcity.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.


	5. 005

April found them in Toyama, at the beginning of the tour’s last week.

Sadly, Reita’s joy over the band’s good mood was way too early… They got a late start from Sendai, because Uruha was still so drunk at the morning, he couldn’t get up. Yamagata-kun - one of the drum technicians - helped Reita to get him into the bus and onto his bunk. Because of that, the trip to Shizuoka was a really, really tense one.

The bassist sat down into his usual seat and put the headphones on, concentrating on the music. He hoped, the urge to pour ice water over the head of their lead guitarist would disappear.

  
\---

Reita hurried to finish the soundcheck as fast as possible, not wanting to be on stage with Uruha more than it was necessary. He wasn’t really angry with the man. After Sendai, they tried to talk him out of going into the town for drinking. Kai just slammed the door of the dressing room closed after that “talk”.

 

It hurt to see Uruha destroying himself and Reita’s attempts to talk to him were unsuccessful. The last time, he tried to ask what they could do to help him to put down the alcohol. Maybe he needed to talk about what started this whole clusterfuck, but the only answer he got was a shrug as the guitarist walked away.

It hurt to be treated like a stranger, after almost a decade and half of friendship. Like they didn’t grow up together, like they didn’t planned together to be rockstars...

 

After he finished on the stage, he walked back to the dressing room, pulled on his jacket and left the building through one of its back entrances. While walking, he sent a group message, he has gone for a 30 minutes walk. Kai and Ruki wrote back, acknowledging and promising a rescue and search mission, if he wasn’t back in 45 minutes. Kai’s sense of humor was still alive and kicking…

A little bit later Aoi wrote too, asking him buy cigarette on his way back. The fourth message never arrived.

  
\---

Reita tried to disappear into the armchair, hoping that Kai’s focus wouldn’t stray from their lead guitarist.

 

“I’m still waiting for an answer Uruha-kun.” Kai growled into the dressing room’s suffocating silence. “What the bloody fuck happened to the stage?”

 

“My finger just slipped on the string, it happens.” the guitarist answered with a small shrug. Kai’s hand balled into fists, the bassist slowly slipped forward in his seat to be closer to the drummer if needed. He saw from the corner of his eye as Aoi also moved closer, and Ruki tried to put distance between himself and Uruha on the sofa.

 

During performance, Uruha fucked up ‘Ruder’ twice. Luckily, they were experienced enough to cover them up, playing like nothing happened. The show continued, but the mood on the stage turned bad. In the dressing room, Ruki hurled a full water bottle at Uruha’s head, he only got saved by Aoi’s reflexes, who caught it in the air.

 

Kai arrived at last like a thunderstorm, and if looks could kill… Well, their problem would have been to search for a temporary guitarist and the disposing of the previous one’s body.

 

It looked like Uruha wasn’t fazed by the situation, or maybe his survival instinct faded along with his common sense. The guitarist got up from the couch - for a heartbeat there was relief on Ruki’s face - and started packing.

Kai moved so fast, no one got time to react and he pressed Uruha against the wall, his fist grabbing the white t-shirt.

 

Reita and Aoi moved almost as one, jumping from their seats, but Kai stopped them with a raised hand.

 

“This is the last time I say it.” the drummer’s voice was deceptively calm, like wasn’t pushing another man, his own band mate against a wall… “Until this moment, I overlooked your drinking. I tolerated it, because it didn’t affected your performance. Now it ends. For the next 7 days, you’ll always have someone with you. You will not go alone anywhere outside of the hotel or the tour bus. And if I smell alcohol on you just one more time, you’re out of this band. Am I clear?” Kai’s fist clenched harder in the white fabric.

 

For a few moments, Uruha just looked at him with huge, panicked eyes, then nodded. Kai released him with a not-so friendly smile, picked up his coat and left the room, the door closed behind him without a sound.

 

Reita looked at Aoi who just nodded and stepped up next to Uruha. The bassist snatched up the first sweater on his way out and run after Kai. He found their drummer next to the back entrance, trying to disappear into his coat, a cloud of cigarette smoke embracing him.

 

Without a word, he stopped next to him and pulled out of his own pack of smokes. For a few minutes they just stood there, the noise of the city around them filling the night. Kai’s tired sigh broke their silence.

 

“Sorry for that, but it was the last straw.” his voice was so quiet, Reita almost didn’t hear the words.

 

“Don’t be sorry, you did what we wanted anyway. Otherwise, you were right. We all tolerated his bullshit, because it didn’t interfere with the shows. Also, you aren’t the only one who is angry with him. Ruki threw a water bottle at him, only Aoi saved him from it. I just want to shake him until something clicks into place in his head, but I fear it would give him a concussion only.” the bassist tried to joke, hoping it could make Kai less sad, but the smile he got wasn’t a convincing one.

  
Not having a better idea, Reita threw his left arm over Kai’s shoulder and pulled the man closer to himself. The drummer allowed it, leaned his temple against the bassist’s and without a word they let the silence embrace them, giving an illusion of peace...

 

/TBC/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My background music for this chapter: [J - Loop on blue (live)](https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6Yum6X83KKkTW1GZHBYNFRra00)
> 
> You can shout at me [HERE](https://fromthedistortedcity.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.


	6. 006

The door closed quietly behind Reita, he was finally at home… With a tired gesture, he switched on the light, shedded his jacket and boots, then picked up his bags and started walking up on the stairs. He felt so tired even before the final in Osaka, and that concert didn’t help at all...

 

He reached the next floor without an accident. Left the bags next to the bathroom doors, and continued his journey to the bedroom. The next set of stairs almost tripped him up, but arrived eventually. Not bothering with lights, he simply stripped down to his underwear and fell face forward onto the bed.

 

For a few moments he just laid there, letting the scent of fresh laundry quiet his mind. He missed this, the familiar scents of his home, the peaceful silence and his own bed. He murmured a small thank you for his sister who cleaned the house and changed the sheets for fresh ones, then with a sigh he squirmed a little slipping under the blanket and closed his eyes. Reita was asleep in minutes.

___

 

He woke with a start, his phone ringing somewhere nearby. What in the… In theory, he should have had two free days! With a growl, he kicked off the blanket and searched for the still ringing phone. Of course he left in the pocket of his jeans. If he had more than two functioning brain cells, he didn’t forget to shut it off...

 

From the display, his sister’s face smiled back at him. Oh, okay...

 

“Mornin’, Moriko. Do you have any idea, how early it is and how late I got home?” he asked as soon as he accepted the call.

 

“Get your skinny ass to the door and let me in, before I set your feathery children free!” was the answer he got. Reita jumped up from his bed and ran down to the front door, before she really set the cockatiels free.

Even before he opened the door, he could hear his birds yelling and was unable to hide grin on his face, despite his sister’s glare.

 

“Morning little brother, take you bundles of feather, go back and dress up.” she passed him the large bird cage and Reita run back upstairs with it. In the living room, he put the cage back into its place and finally let his sons out. Oscar flew onto the stand next to the window, his usual spot, Keiji flew two laps around the room and finally landed on Reita’s shoulder. His grin melted into a soft smile as the parrot started grooming his hair and when he was finished, he snuggled up to the bassist’s neck. At least he was missed by his birds...

 

By the time finished dressing, Moriko invaded the kitchen and she was filling the fridge and the cabinets with food. As he got back down from the bedroom, she lifted her head and looked at him critically.

 

“I can’t decide if you were on tour or in a military boot camp. I don’t remember seeing you this drawn-out.” she said.

 

“Let’s just say, the boot camp would have been better for me.” Reita sat down to the small dining table dividing the kitchen and the living room. Moriko didn’t said anything for a few minutes, busied herself with the kettle and two teacups. At last, she sat down face to face with the bassist, the two cups in her hands.

 

“Can we help with anything?” she asked.

 

“No-one can help, not even me, despite my efforts.” probably she hears something in his voice, because she lifted her eyebrows in a questioning manner. “I just… I don’t know what could I do.” Reita sighed and closed his eyes.

 

“Akira? What happened?” Moriko’s voice sounded just like their mother’s in that moment and that absolutely didn’t help with the bitterness in his chest.

 

“We have an alcoholist who is slowly falling to pieces, and apparently our lead guitarist. Everyone tried to talk him out of drinking, without success. The only working solution was Kai’s, who told him if he fucked up another note during show, he’ll be kicked out of the band. And let me tell you, that wasn’t a nice chat.”

 

“Takashima-kun? But you said last time, his drinking was manageable... And he messed up one of your songs?” Moriko’s hand enveloped his fingers and squeezed them softly. “I don’t what you should do. Maybe, try to relax in the next few days, and if you guys survived the finals, sit him down and talk with him again.” Reita snorted at the idea.

 

“Believe me, we tried. But it’s easier to teach Keiji play a guitar. That would have been more successful.” he drank the remains of his tea and stepped to the kitchen sink with his empty cup.

 

“But Akira, Takashima-kun is your best friend, don’t give-”

 

“Enough. If we were truly friends, maybe he would let us help. The only help he accepts is, that when one of us drags his drunk ass back to the hotel. I’m so tired of this. We tolerated it, but he messed up a song, which we play for two years. On the final in Osaka. Two years! Kai almost beat him in the dressing room.” Reita’s fingers grabbed the edge of the kitchen counter, the memory brought back the horrible mix of anger and panic. “His only luck, Takenaka-san has anticipated it and grabbed Kai with one of the staff members, before he could kill him. I really, really don’t want that repeated…”

 

Moriko stepped next to him and her arms enveloped him into a hug. He returned it without a word, trying to hide from his problems, into the perfume scented hair of his sister. The thought of a calm, ordinary life was so tempting...

 

“If you would like, come over to us this afternoon, Takumi misses you. It should be good for both of you.” she offered.

 

“Sounds good, but I think, I need some alone time. And I don’t think it’s a good idea to be near child with my current stress level.” he murmured into her shoulder.

 

“Okay, but as soon as you finished the tour, you will come over. The only reason I didn’t brought him today is it’s kindergarten day.” familiar hands smoothed up and down on his back, the touch eased the knot in his chest.

 

\---

  
Half an hour later, he was alone in his house. Reita started sorting the clothes in the suitcases and washing them. As he waited for the washing machine to finish, he decided to make a quick lunch but before he opened the fridge, quickly run upstairs and switched off his phone.

 

/TBC/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really out of loop with the band, so I have no idea how Reita's birds(?) called. I used the ones I found on age-old fanpages. Sorry...
> 
> My background music for this chapter:  
> \- [Aoi's ESP Guitar gallery BGM](https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2vQC4ISLl1RNlRlNW13cU9McjQ)  
> or  
> \- [Secret Garden - Frozen in time](https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2vQC4ISLl1RUzFTaU1JNVU1ems)
> 
> The next chapter will be up, as soon as I finished ch. 9. I think, it'll be after Christmas, hopefully before New Year.
> 
> You can shout at me [HERE](https://fromthedistortedcity.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.


	7. 007

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still stuck on chapter 9, but look! Update!

Reita opened the door of the dressing room carefully to steal a look who was inside. Luckily just Aoi was there with a few staff members, and the guitarist’s attention was on his phone, typing something. With a relieved breath he stepped inside, hoping for a little time until Kai or Uruha arrived. Sadly, his luck wasn’t that good, because a few minutes later both men walked into the room. They replied to Kai’s greeting but Uruha stepped to his clothes without a word and started dressing. Reita’s questioning gaze met Aoi’s in one of the mirrors, but the expression on the dark haired guitarist’s face said he didn’t know much either.

 

The bassist quickly arranged a few locks of hair into place, fixing them with hair spray and decided to go for a little walk. He wandered for a while in the arena, until he found Ruki in the auditorium, sitting at the end of one rows of seats, trying to concentrate on his phone and on the small notebook in his lap. Reita jumped the cordons for a shortcut and sat next to their singer.

 

“The mood is a little frosty in the dressing room, I hear.” Ruki looked up from his mobile.

 

“Antarctica seems like a nice place compared to that. Do you know what happened?” the bassist asked as he leaned back in his chair.

 

“Kai practically kept our lead guitarist in house arrest since Friday, because he was wasted on Thursday afternoon. He called me first to help him to go home, but I will _not_ save his sorry, drunk ass, I called Kai to drive him to home.” judging from the pleased little smile, the singer was still angry because of the incident in Osaka. And Reita couldn’t blame him...

 

“Oh~, nice job!” he grinned at Ruki. “Now I can see why he’s so offended.”

 

“I don’t know what Kai did with him, but I hope for his own sake he’ll be in his right mind.” Ruki growled as he put his phone away and started re-reading what he wrote so far. It looked like a lyric...

 

“Let’s hope for the best.” he murmured as Kai stepped to his drum kit to start his soundcheck and with a sigh, Reita got up from his seat to walk back to the stage, because after Kai it was his turn.

___

 

With a grin on his face, Reita staggered into the dressing room. Finally, they finished the last show!

 

If he was honest, the last two days wasn’t a smooth sailing, but they survived them without a shouting match and that improved the mood just fine. Also there were moments on the stage he couldn’t understand, but he kept the question to himself why Aoi wanted to kill someone with his gaze during Swallowtail.

 

They quickly changed back into street clothes and packed up to leave the arena. Kai stopped next to the van, in the parking lot and looked at them.

 

“Who’s in mood for food?” he asked.

 

“The only thing I want is to sleep until noon.” Ruki groaned and stepped into the van.

 

“No, thanks.” Uruha replied tersely and followed the singer.

 

“Where do you want to eat? I really don’t care until there is food, T’m starving.” Reith stepped closer to the drummer.

 

“There is a fast food restaurant nearby, I need something sweet.” Aoi sighed.

 

“Well, it was decided. Have a good rest guys.” Kai waved at the other two, then the door of the van closed and it left the parking lot.

 

Aoi leading them, the others started walking, and after barely 10 minutes they found the restaurant what happened to be a Denny’s. Reita wasn’t really surprised about the fact that their guitarist knew where to find it… Aoi swore, their pancake was addictive and seeing how many times they eat at one, he believed him.

 

Luckily, they found a free table in the back well after 11 pm on a Sunday night and finally sat down.

 

“Okay, Yuu, what’s wrong?” their drummer asked Aoi.

 

“No, food first and after that I will talk.” he answered and got up from his chair. “Do you know what do you want to eat?”

 

“I would like two ham and cheese sandwiches and a cup of tea.” was the bassist’s usual order.

 

“Make it a double, but with coffee please.” replied Kai as he fished his phone out.

 

“Okay, I’ll be back.” and wish that Aoi walked up to the counter to get their food. A few minutes later he was back, laden with trays and with help from one of the staff he brought all of their orders. After saying thanks for the help they started eating.

___

 

“So, what happened?” Kai asked again when the plates were empty.

 

“Uruha fucked up Swallowtail.” Aoi replied simply. For a few heartbeat there was silence around the table.

 

“Please repeat what you said, because I swear I heard something else.” Kai broke the silence, putting his coffee cup down a little forcefully, porcelain clinked on porcelain.

 

“You heard it just fine.” the guitarist sighed.

 

“I’ll kill him. I have no idea where to hide the body, but I’ll kill him.” the drummer swore. Reita closed his eyes tiredly.

 

“That would be a waste of energy.” Aoi dismissed the idea.

 

“I’m surprised we didn’t hear.” Reita said after he fought down the impulse to break something.

 

“It wasn’t a big mistake, but I heard it anyway.” came the answer with a shrug. “If I don’t like the song as I much as I do, maybe I didn’t hear it either.”

 

“Let’s just turn off our phones for a week and pretend we didn’t know each other.” Kai groaned. Reita nodded in agreement.

 

“That’s not a fucking solution”. Aoi growled. “We need to do something before we start in the studio again, because after that we’ll not have time or the energy to deal with it. Again.”

 

“And what should we do, what we didn’t try so far?” Kai asked.

 

“I have no idea, but we can’t leave it like this.”

 

“Okay everyone, now take a deep breath and lean back a little.” Reita interrupted them. They  were way too tired to have this conversation in peace. “Kai’s plan sounds good.” Aoi opened his mouth to say something, but the bassist lifted his hand to stop him. “Just for a week. After that, we’ll catch Ruki and sit down, until we find a solution. The thing with the house arrest wasn’t a bad one, but it’s a pain in the ass outside a tour, we live too far from each other.” he sighed. “Now everyone goes home, shuts their phone off and goes to sleep. On 28th which is a Monday, I want everyone at my place, 10 am sharp.  Call Ruki about it. Also, I don’t want to hear about any one of you guys. Am I clear?” the answer was tired nodding, the other two was just as tired as him.

  
After a few minutes lazing, they packed up and started a trek to Shibuya Station. Reita caught the last train to Fudomae Station and not even an hour later he was finally at home.

/TBC/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My background music for this chapter:  
> \- [the GazettE - GENTLE LIE](https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2vQC4ISLl1RUk9qd3NDNkM2Uk0)  
> or  
> \- [Miyazaki Makoto - Theme of ONE PUNCH MAN ~Ballad Ver.~](https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2vQC4ISLl1RbWZUX0MxSzV6Mkk)
> 
> You can shout at me [HERE](https://fromthedistortedcity.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.


	8. 008

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I'm still alive... Let me tell you guys, it sucks writing alone, but hey! Update!
> 
> Uh, should I mention/tag that there is blood and a little bit of violence in this chapter?

It was Thursday morning when the bassist finally switched his phone on, and regretted it in minutes. Poor device instantly started beeping and vibrating, missed call notices and unread messages crowding on the display.

 

 _Moriko will rip my face off._ Was his first conclusion, seeing her ever angrier messages. Also there was a few from a really unhappy Ruki, about him being unavailable and two from Aoi, who was cawing about an emergency meeting?

 

With a deep sigh, he walked upstairs to get dressed. It was time to visit his family, and running circles in his own head about this whole clusterfuck wasn’t the solution.

  
___  


After a good 40 minutes ride, he parked in front of his sister’s house and got out of the car. Reita didn’t even had time to turn on the alarm, when the front door slammed open and moriko stepped out, into the sunlight, a terrifying frown on her face. She didn’t said a word until her brother was in arm’s length. She grabbed him by the lapel of his leather jacket and yanked him closer, their noses almost touching.

 

“One more communication blackout without warning, and I’ll kill you with my own hands. I hope you know, Takumi was sure he made you angry and that’s why you won’t talk to him.” she hissed at him. _Oh, shit..._

 

“I’m so, so sorry! I swear to God, didn’t want to hurt him and I’ll never do something like that.” Great, he unintentionally hurt his nephew. It was a miracle she didn’t slapped him on sight… Moriko stared into his eyes for a few heartbeat, then she released her grip and took a step back.

 

“Good, you can pick him up from the kindergarten this afternoon and take him to the first toy store. By the way, you still look horrible, did you even rest? Oh, and did you call Mom?” she asked as she herded him into the house.

 

“I talked with them on Monday.”

 

“And of course you forgot to mention you’ll be unavailable for days.” Oops?

 

“Maybe?” he answered with a forced grin. Moriko huffed at him and left the bassist in the foyer, while Reita took of his jacket and boots.

 

He found his sister in the kitchen, stirring a pot of bubbling curry. Reita sat down with a heavy sigh, out of her way.

 

“That sounded serious. What’s wrong?” Moriko asked.

 

“The problem is still a problem and now we can add another one, Uruha fucked up a song on the last final show. I’m praying it to be a really, really small mistake, because it was recorded.”

 

“He made a mistake after Osaka? I cannot imagine what happened after that in the dressing room.” she turned to look at him with a sympathetic smile.

 

“Imagining Osaka isn’t easy, and actually being there was even worse. Luckily only Aoi picked up this one and he only mentioned it when we left Yoyogi. I don’t think Ruki knows, unless the others told him. In that case, we need another lead guitarist, because he’ll kill Uruha and Kai will help him.” Even he had three days to rest, now he felt more tired than at the end of the tour, just thinking about this whole mess.

 

“Do you guys have any idea what to do? I hope your solution is not to leave him be.” Moriko stirred the curry a little more, then shut off the flame under it and stepped up to the table to sit down.

 

“To be honest, I really don’t know what to do. My ideas are way too drastic.” Reita shrugged. “Hopefully the others are smarter than me.”

  
___  


The bassist lazily blinked at the TV, almost asleep… His phone suddenly beeped, breaking the peaceful mood. _Who the fuck writes after 9 PM?_

 

He carefully maneuvered his sleeping nephew off his chest and pulled the mobile out of his pocket.

 

_3 Chome-3-2-21 Nishiazabu, Minato-ku, August Beer Club, a little help?_

 

Said Uruha’s group message. He couldn’t breath for a moment. Something was wrong, but panicking never helped. He got up carefully, pulled the blanket off the back of the sofa and draped it over Takumi. Luckily the little boy didn’t wake up, fell asleep in ten minutes when they sat down to watch his favourite cartoon.

 

As silently as possible, he walked into the kitchen where Moriko and his husband, Hisato sat and talked quietly. Both of them looked up as he stepped inside and maybe there was something on his face because, his sister left the kitchen without a word to put her son into bed.

 

“Is everything alright?” Hisato asked as they made their way to the front door.

 

“I have no idea, the message I got sounds really bad. I need to go now.” Reita threw the jacket on, slipped into his boots, tucking the laces away not wanting to waste time to tie them properly. “I’ll call tomorrow, if I know more.”

 

“Be careful and call if you need help.” Hisato squeezed his shoulder encouragingly then Reita was on his way with a unconvincing smile.

 

In the car he started a conference call and put the phone on speaker. He fed the GPS the address from the message while he waited the others to pick it up.

 

“We’re almost on our way” Ruki answered first. “I’m at Aoi’s, as soon as he finds his keys, we are going.”

 

“I’m going in a minute, but I need to put the phone down, it’s easier to dig the bike out than my car. I’ll meet you guys there.” with that the drummer ended the call.

 

“Any other clue or information?” Reita asked their singer.

 

“Nothing, the last time I spoke with him was Sunday night.” car door slamming and engine purring in the background.

 

“I saw him at Yoyogi last Sunday. When I turned on my phone on Tuesday, Taka-kun’s messages were the only ones I got.” Aoi answered.

 

“Great, nobody knows anything. Whatever, I need to concentrate on the road before I wrap myself around a lamppost. See you there.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Reita disconnected the call and turned his attention to the GPS. The night traffic didn’t help at all, and when he finally arrived he could scream with frustration and sheer nerve. One parking lot down from his own car, he found Aoi’s and next to it, Kai’s bike.

 

He slammed the door closed and armed the car alarm before turning to the seedy looking building. If they were called because he was drunk…

 

___  


He found the band in the back of the bar, with three stranger, sitting in a corner booth. Uruha huddled between a very nervous Kai and Aoi, his face pale. Ruki sat in the inner corner of the booth, massaging his temple tiredly. As Reita walked up to them, Kai got up to let Uruha and Aoi out. The guitarists hurriedly stepped in front of him, Aoi grabbing his arm and turned Reita back to the door. The bassist got a glimpse of Kai and Ruki with the men, before the door closed behind them.

 

He turned to Aoi to ask what happened, but the dark haired man just shook his head. No, this isn’t absolutely suspicious… Nah.

 

On the street, they walked to Aoi’s car, who opened the back passenger door and gestured to Uruha to get in. The lead guitarist got in without a word and tried to disappear into the upholstery.

 

“Could anyone of you tell me, what’s going on here?”

 

“Oh, currently we have a homeless lead guitarist, who - if he is unlucky enough - will be dead soon.” Aoi growled.

 

“What?” Reita swore he wasn’t stupid but that sounded really weird. Probably it showed on his face because aoi took a deep breath and continued.

 

“Takashima-kun successfully gambled and lost his home, while he was drunk. The gentlemen you saw inside showed us a signed contract. The signature sadly really is his. It was about a bet and if he lost the bet, he would give up the object of it.” The guitarist’s hands balled into fists but he spoke. “The object of the bet was his flat, which he lose on dog fighting.” For moments there was nothing just the noise of the city between them.

 

“Maybe I heard-”

 

“No, you heard me right.” Aoi uncurled his fists and shot an unfriendly glare at Uruha’s direction. “We have no idea if he did it on purpose or he was that wasted. I don’t think I need to tell you he doesn’t remember.” Reita just blinked for a while, trying to wrap his head around his whole thing, while his headache kicked up a notch, his brain trying to escape through his ethmoid.

 

“Okay. What Leader-san and Taka doing inside?” he turned his head, trying to look into the bar. He really didn’t want to look at their lead guitarist right now.

 

“The contract gave 24 hours to give the flat up, but because someone remembers shit while drunk, the deadline is over. His only luck is, that piece of paper doesn’t mention furniture and other stuff. The guys now try to gain another day to move him out without a hitch.”

 

Inside, Kai and Ruki got up from the booth and said goodbye to the three men. The singer was the first one out of the door, he stopped next to Aoi’s car. The smaller man grabbed the sleeve of Uruha’s jacket and dragged him out of the car. Reita moved to step between them, when Kai appeared next to him, the drummer’s arm held in front of the bassist, stopping him. He looked away from the other two, but the only answer the got was a small head shake.

 

A moment later there was a snap and as Reita turned back, Uruha was leaning against Aoi’s car, his right hand pressed to his face, blood on his fingers. Ruki looking at him with a furious snarl, his hand curled in a bloody fist.

 

“This was the last occasion I did something for you. From now on, don’t you dare to call me if it isn’t music or band related. Also, I don’t want you anywhere near my flat or my dog.” With that their singer got into the guitarist’s car, slamming the door shut.

 

“We need to empty the flat before 1 PM tomorrow. I know a storage, where we can put the furniture, but we need movers.” Kai broke the heavy silence. The lead guitarist carefully stepped away from the car, trying to get out of the drummer’s arm reach. Reita sighed as he watched him and fished a folded tissue out of his jacket pocket, handing it to Uruha, because that nosebleed couldn’t stop on its own. The guitarist flinched at the movement next to him, but as he turned to his left, he took the tissue with a tiny nod.

 

“I know movers, but the phone number isn’t with me now. When I get home, I’ll call them.” Aoi said.

 

“Shouldn’t you wait til morning? It’s almost 10 PM.” Reita asked as pulled out another tissue for Uruha, who successfully smeared the blood all over the lower half of his face, looking like a extra from a zombie horror.

 

“Mmm, you can call them in urgent situations, they were the ones that helped my brother a few years ago.” he smiled sadly. The bassist needed a few seconds to remember. Three years ago Aoi’s older brother lived with an aggressive and manipulative woman and he could leave her only with Aoi’s help.

 

“Okay, the last question, what we should do with you.” Kai turned to their lead guitarist with a disappointed frown, his left hand in the pocket of his biker jacket, helmet in his right hand.

 

“I-I don’t know. I’m so sorry for causing trouble, I’m sorry…” Uruha’s voice was faint and the maybe broken nose wasn’t helping at all.

 

“You’re not a little late with that, but okay. Now everybody go home to calm down, we’ll meet tomorrow afternoon to talk about this disaster.” Kai sighed tiredly. “I’ll arrange the storage tonight, so the movers can pack everything there. When they’re finished, we’ll help you pick out the most important clothes, instruments and other stuffs. Everything else stays put until you find another place.” he looked at Uruha, who nodded in agreement.

 

“You can have my couch until you find something, if you want.” Reita turned to the guitarist.

 

“Thank you Akira-kun.” Uruha tried to smile back at him, but winced as his face moved.

 

“Well, good night then gentlemen. See you at the storage, Kai-kun don’t forget to send the address of it.” With that Aoi get into the driver’s seat of his car and left with Ruki.

 

“Everything will be alright with you guys?” Kai asked as he pulled the helmet on.

 

“Yes, We’ll go home and do something with his nose. If there is a problem, I’ll call.” Reita replied. Kai nodded, then turned to walk to his bike.

 

Following their drummer’s example, they left the bar. The bassist had no idea what to say, the others made a solid plan. He was angry with Uruha but had no energy to quarrel with the man, he hoped this was the wake-up call the guitarist needed.

  
At home Reita herded the guitarist into the bathroom while he searched for ice and a clean towel. Luckily Ruki didn’t shatter Uruha’s nose, only the cartilage was a little bit out of place. After it was adjusted back, they put ice on it, hoping it would help with the swelling and the bruises.

 

/TBC/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My background music for this chapter:  
> \- [the GazettE - DIM SCENE](https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2vQC4ISLl1ROU9WMnQzNFRCcTA)
> 
> You can shout at me [HERE](https://fromthedistortedcity.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr.


End file.
